Audi Q8 Big Entrance – BFI Gold Spot/Launch

BACKGROUND – Audi & The BFI – a media first

 

We collaborated with PHD on a media first for Audi, combining never done before, exclusive, solus advertising with an experiential dimension which became “Make a big entrance”.

The BFI on London’s Southbank was the BBC of cinemas up until this partnership– their four screens did not show any on-screen advertising .As the BFI’s exclusive commercial partner, we proposed that Audi became the first and only brand to appear on-screen immediately before all films in the solus premium Gold Spot position in 2018. The partnership allowed Audi to deliver a series of brand messages and a specific product experiential launch for the SUV Q8 where live performance of the Q8 score music was played by the London Metropolitan Orchestra and the new Q8 product was revealed in the building after the performance.

INSIGHT – How would this idea deliver on Audi’s goals?

 

Audi is in all of the most competitive high end car categories in the UK. Audi’s less expensive cars were driving growth. Audi’s ambition was to sell more cars to high net worth customers. Our idea provided a channel for Audi to unlock brand desirability and distinctiveness among the BFIs affluent audience (95% ABC1) in “best seat” media to deliver on Audi’s strategy of using an integrated halo to convert desire with a fully connected campaign.

BFI + Audi – the Big Idea

 

BFI is the lead body in British cinema and has an unrivalled connection to film which fits perfectly with the progressive Audi take on premium. We know that film is a key passion point for Audi’s customers, and we wanted to build on Audi’s existing relationship with cinema audiences as a consistent Gold Spot/blockbuster advertiser.

Pearl & Dean and PHD developed the experiential campaign via a  collaboration with Masterclass, BBH, Wardman & Twitter, the BFI delivered an activation at Southbank for the launch of the Audi Q8 by re-creating a live format of their TV creative.

THE ADVERTISING

 

The 12 month presence enabled Audi to drive the brands desirability and distinctiveness to a discerning, high net worth, prestige audience , across a portfolio of their cars. The BFI partnership delivered 280,000 premium BFI customers – 95% ABC1.  We know that creative which appears on cinema, despite also appearing on TV, are perceived to be more premium (FAME)

THE ACTIVATION

 

The BFI debuted the Q8 campaign by emulating the “Big Entrance” TV creative. An exclusive guest list comprising BFI members, patrons & members of Audi’s customer loyalty audience were invited to a preview screening of American Animals. Little did they know that, before the film, they would experience an immersive & entertaining rendition of the Audi Q8 creative which featured a performance from the 100 strong London Met Orchestra accompanied by the Metro Voices choir seated amongst the audience. The audience reactions were streamed live across Twitter. After the film, our exclusive cinemagoers were immersed in an in-foyer Audi experience with six Audi Q8s to explore…with a lucky few receiving a chauffeur driven ride home.

THE RESULTS

 

  • Audi became overall top car brand for desirability among prestige audiences with sales 3x faster in the UK
  • The Q8 BFI launch event, whilst experienced by a chosen few on the night, was seen by over 3m people on Twitter over 4 days.
  • Over the launch period the Q8 has seen over 9,000 car configurations on the Audi website; 3 times the average and the most Audi had seen for an SUV in two years. (Brand tracking from Millward Brown)